Knitting machine op the opposed needle bed type



May 18, I F E, DEANS ETAL KNITTING MACHINE OF THE OPPOSED NEEDLE BEDTYPE Filed April 1, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l Mi gdwaw gaau; M G Inuerzr;

B wzw A ttbrne y May 18, 1948. i F. E. DEANS ETAL 2,441,755

KNITTING MACHINE OF THE OPPOSED NEEDLE BED TYPE Filed April 1, 1946 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 18, 1948 KNITTING MACHINE OF THE OPPOSEDNEEDLE BED TYPE Frederick Edward Deans and Carlyle Herbert Wainwright,Leicester, England, assignors to The Bentley Engineering Leicester,England Company Limited,

Application April 1, 1946, Serial No. 658,800 In Great Britain April 18,1945 4 Claims. 1

This invention concerns knitting machines of the opposed needle bedtype, especially circular knitting machines having opposed needlecylinders. In such machines it is desirable that the beds shall beclosely adjacent to one another, which renders it difiicult toaccommodate elements in, or that are movable into, the gap between the,margins of the two beds. Specifically, in the case of opposed cylindermachines it is difhcult to apply Wrap-thread mechanism thereto, becausethe comparatively wide space which must be left between the twocylinders to permit of the necessary movements of the wrap threadfingers leaves the needles unsupported for a considerable distance andjeopardises th certainty of their transfer from one cylinder to theother,

and the undesirably great distance between the verge ring of the upperofrib cylinder and the knitting level is detrimental to the quality ofthe rib fabric. These are draw-backs that the present invention seeks toobviate.

The invention, in its broadest aspect, provides in or for a knittingmachine of the opposed needle bed type, a needle bed having trick wallscon.- stituted by individually-slidable blades capable of projection andretraction at the margin of the bed. Preferably/this bedv has aplurality of grooves, and aIbladelongitudinallyslidable in each suchgroove but standing proud thereof whereby the space between successiveblades forms a needle trick the walls of which are constituted by theblades themselves.

The invention further provides a knitting ma- 7 chine of the opposedneedle bed type and particularly a superimposed or other opposed needlecylinder machine, having wrap-thread mechanism including at least onewrap-thread finger movable at a wrapping station in the space hetweenthe adjacent margins of the two beds to supply wrap thread to at leastone needle, needletrick walls in at least one of the beds constituted byindividually slidable blades capable of projection andretraction at themargin 0f the bed, and operating means for said blades arranged toretract them at the wrapping station to provide room'for the movementsof the wrap finger, This machine may have a stitch cam, and means forprojecting the blades to an abnormal extent at the stitch-drawing point.In order 'that the blades may maintain a normal position, withoutretraction, when wrap stripping is not taking place, the operating meansmay be capable of being rendered inoperative.

The foregoing and other features of the invention set out in theappended claims are incorporated in the construction which will now bedescribed (as an example of the application thereof to a superimposedneedle cylinder machine wherein double-ended latch needles are movableby sliders from one'cylinder to the other in known manner), withreference to the accompanying drawings in which--- Figure l is anelevation of the top needle cylinder and cam box, partly broken away andin section;

Figure 2 is a development of the cams of the top box and also shows asliding blade or needletrick wall. 7 i

The illustrated machine is of thexknown type having a lower or plaincylinder I and an upper or rib cylinder 2 with cam box 3, thesecylinders double-ended needles 4 mov- The sliders are operable by cams,to cause the needles to work in either cylinder in the production of ribor plain stitches and to transfer the needles from one cylinder to theother so that the character of the rib structure may bevaried orplain'fabric may be produced, Machines of this type are well known beingequipped with able by sliders 5.

and need no further description or illustration herein. 7

This machine is equipped with wrap-thread mechanism which comprises atleast one and preferably a plurality of wrap-thread fingers (of which arepresentative finger is indicated at 6) which aresuspended within theupper (or rib) needle cylinder 2 and are actuated by appropriatemechanism 1 so that as they reach a wrapping station in the region ofthe bracket W. S. in Figure 1 each one or each selected one is swung sothat its lower-thread-guiding end 6a moves outwards between the twocylinders into the attitude shown in Figure 1, moves sideways least oneneedle 4, and then retires so that as a result of these movements itsthread is wrapped around at least one needle. Itwill be appreciated thatin these movements a portion of the finger 6 passes over the head of atleast one needle positioned in the bottom cylinder l and that in orderto permit of this the lower margin of the top cylinder 2 mustbe'positioned a greater distance above the top margin of the bottomcylinder (and above the sinkers) than is necessary in a machine notequipped with wrap-thread mechanism, and that this large gap isundesirable.

Accordingly the top or rib needle cylinder 2 is formed with tricks 8 toaccommodate a series of slidable blades 9 which stand proud of thetricks and accommodate the sliders and rib needles between them so thatin efiect these blades 9 conpast at stitute slidable trick walls. Intheir normal position (which they occupy throughout the major portion ofeach revolution and in which they are .shown in the left hand portion ofFigure 1) the lower ends 9a ofthese blades protrude well below themarginof thetop cylinder 2 so that the gap between th two beds isreduced to a minimum, but at the wrapping station W. S. they aretemporarily retracted (raised) to give an increased gap which affordsthe necessary room for the movements of the wrap fingers 6.

The lower ends 9a of these blades 9 provide edges over which the ribloops are drawn and so'permit the usual verge ring in the top cylinderto be dispensed with; said ends are thinned down (either by beingstepped, as shown, or tapered) to givethe instruct the feed of the yarnto the needles. As in this construction the loops are drawn by the.conjoint action of the rib needles and the draw edges on the blades 9,moving in opposite directions, the angle of the ribstitch cam- H can bemade much easier than when, as is usual, the loops are drawn over fixeddraw edges by the motion of the needles solely.

We claim:

1. In a circular-knitting machine of the opposed needle cylinder typehaving double headed needles-,msliders in the two cylinders foroperating the-needles and-for effecting their transfer between the twocylinders, and cams, between which.andztheycylinders relative rotatiotakes place definingraces around each cylinder for opcreased trick widthnecessary to permit a rib loop to be drawn into the trick. In Figure 1,for the sake of clarity the blades 9 are shown as being very thickas ina coarse gauge machine.

The movementof'the' blades 9 may be so controlled that when wrapping isnot taking place;

(e. g;, in-the heelzor toe) they remain in the lower positiongand themay =-be soprojected at-the rib stitch drawing-point that a rib stitchcammay beemployed havinga-much easier angle than is usual.

Thea'blades S are controlled means of butts erating the sliders; thecombination of an upper cylinder having a plurality ofcircumferentiallyspaced longitudinal grooves, a blade slidablelongitudinally in each groove but standing proud thereof whereby eachspace between the successive blades forms a trick, for accommodating a,slider and its needle, thewalls of which trick are I constituted, by theblades themselves, operating I0 and cams; which'are preferably locatedabove' Y the cams l I of the top sliders 5. In order thatvtheiblade-operating camsmay be close -tothe exterior periphery of thecylinder, the outer edges of the blades are out back above the sliders(i. ea -the upperends 0f the blades are of reduced radial width) and thebutts ID are providedon this-cut-back part, It is preferred that eachblade shall have two spaced butts or their equivalentbetween which astrip-like or rib-like cam or succession of cams on the cam boxengagesesothat therblades are'always held under controlwwithout thecomplication of two sets. of cams'defining between them a track in whicha single butt travels. Thus the butts l0 and steps or shoulders12.,travel respectively above and below a...rib-like orstrip-like seriesof cam l3;

l4, l5, l6 and I! by which (except by cam IS) the blades :9 arer lockedagainst endwise movementyzwhile travelling over cam Hi the butts l0- l9,The cam--16 isIOCated-in the region of the butts on the upper ends oftheblades, and a cam H race, disposed above the. upper cam race for thesliders, for engaging the butts of the blades and for projectinglsaidblades oneafter. another.towards the lower cylinder and for retractingthem one after another.

' 2. A machine according to claim 1, having the outer edges of theblades cut back above the sliders and having the butts provided on thecut backedges.

s. I acircular kmttin machi eor these posed needle cylinder type havingdouble headed needles, slidersin the two cylinders for operating. theneedles and for eifecting their transfer be tween the two cylinders, andcams, between which and the cylinders relative rotation takes place,defining races around each cylinder'ffor operating the sliders; thecombihat'ion'of'at least one yarn feeder movable, at a feeding station,

between the adjacentmargins of the two cylinders and across the needlecircle, a plurality'of circumferentially-spaced longitudinally-extendinggrooves in the periphery of .the; u p per cylinder, a blade slidablelongitudinally in each groove are strictly xguidedbetween this; cam andcam pp zstation- W. S.;and is of reduced thickness (i. e., its innersurface is spaced radially, outwards from the external periphery of theupper bed) to permit the blades 9 to be elevated by a movable cam 18,which is only inserted when wrap stripping isto take place, to the uppercam;;:-.l9 -whiclr engagefi= :-between butts l0 and shoulders l2'.tolock the blades in their elevated position. The blades are lowered by,cam 20 i 1' The rib stitch cam, which acts on the sliders,

but standing proud of the periphery of th cyl inder whereby each spacebetween successive f,

blades forms a trick, for accommodating {and guiding a slider and itsassociated needle the't f walls of which trick are constituted bytwsues;

cessive blades a butt on each blade, draw edges on the lower ends of theblades, and a cam race, disposed around theupper cylin er a ov i 12 racefor the sliders, for engaging the blade butts] to lower the bladesindividually in their tricks and to raise them individually at thefee'ding sta tion.

4. Amachine according tofclaim 3,"having wrap stripe mechanismcomprising a wrap stripe finger constituting the aforesaid feeder andhaving a thread-guiding end, and means mounting the finger within theupper cylinder for movement of its thread-guiding end, at said station;

outwards across the needle circuit, sidewayspast a group of needles, andinwards across the circle.

FREDERICK EDWARD DEANS. CARLYLE HERBERT WAINWRIGHT.

